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Christian Sexual Ethics

Chastity, marriage, and the right ordering of desire within the Christian life

Christian sexual ethics is the body of teaching on chastity, marriage, and the right ordering of sexual life. Paul addresses it in 1 Corinthians 6-7, and Augustine reflected on it in On the Good of Marriage. Historic traditions share broad norms rooted in these sources, but many specific contemporary questions are sharply contested both across the traditions and within them, so positions today vary considerably rather than speaking with a single voice.

How it traveled

  1. 1 Corinthians
    Ephesus · 67
    explains
  2. 1 Timothy
    Ephesus · 67
    explains
  3. Ephesians
    Rome · 67
    explains
  4. 2 Corinthians
    Philippi · 67
    applies
  5. Mark
    Rome · 68
    explains
  6. Matthew
    Antioch · 80
    explains
  7. Luke
    Rome · 84
    applies
  8. Revelation
    Patmos · 100
    applies
  9. The First Apology
    Rome · 165
    explains
  10. The Discourse to the Greeks
    Rome · 165
    applies
  11. A Plea for the Christians
    Alexandria · 190
    explains
  12. On Monogamy.
    — · 220
    explains
  13. On Exhortation to Chastity.
    — · 220
    explains
  14. On Modesty.
    — · 220
    explains
  15. On the Veiling of Virgins.
    — · 220
    applies
  16. The Second Epistle of the Same Clement.
    — · 220
    applies
  17. Apology.
    — · 220
    applies
  18. Book Second.—Commandments
    — · 220
    explains
  19. Book VI
    — · 220
    applies
  20. Appendix
    — · 220
    explains
  21. Address to the Greeks
    — · 220
    explains
  22. The Epistles of Cyprian.
    Carthage · 258
    applies
  23. Treatises Attributed to Cyprian on Questionable Authority.
    Carthage · 258
    explains
  24. The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity.
    — · 311
    explains
  25. Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died
    — · 325
    applies
  26. The Church History of Eusebius
    Caesarea · 339
    explains
  27. The Life of Constantine with Orations of Constantine and Eusebius
    Caesarea · 339
    applies
  28. The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods
    — · 360
    applies
  29. The Letters
    Caesarea (Cappadocia) · 379
    applies
  30. The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril
    Jerusalem · 386
    explains

Key passages(20)

1 Corinthians 6:13↗applies

1 Corinthians · Paul the Apostle

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1 Corinthians 6:18↗applies

1 Corinthians · Paul the Apostle

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A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants — Book I — The Good of Marriage; Four Different Cases of the Good and the Evil Use of Matrimony.↗explains

A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants · Augustine of Hippo

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Against Jovinianus — Book I — part 10↗explains

Against Jovinianus · Jerome

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Apology., Chapter IX↗applies

Apology. · Apologetic

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Book Second. of the Knowledge of God the Redeemer, in Christ, as First Manifested to the Fathers, Under the Law, and Thereafter to Us Under the Gospel — CHAPTER 8. - EXPOSITION OF THE MORAL LAW. — part 15↗explains

Book Second. of the Knowledge of God the Redeemer, in Christ, as First Manifested to the Fathers, Under the Law, and Thereafter to Us Under the Gospel · John Calvin

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City of God — Augustin censures the pagans, who attributed the calamities of the world, and especially the recent sack of Rome by the Goths, to the Christian religion, and its prohibition of the worship of the gods. — Of Lucretia, Who Put an End to Her Life Because of the Outrage Done Her.↗explains

City of God · Augustine of Hippo

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City of God — Augustin censures the pagans, who attributed the calamities of the world, and especially the recent sack of Rome by the Goths, to the Christian religion, and its prohibition of the worship of the gods. — Of the Violence Which May Be Done to the Body by Another’s Lust, While the Mind Remains Inviolate.↗explains

City of God · Augustine of Hippo

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City of God — Of the punishment and results of man’s first sin, and of the propagation of man without lust. — Of the Evil of Lust,—A Word Which, Though Applicable to Many Vices, is Specially Appropriated to Sexual Uncleanness.↗explains

City of God · Augustine of Hippo

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City of God — Of the punishment and results of man’s first sin, and of the propagation of man without lust. — Whether Generation Should Have Taken Place Even in Paradise Had Man Not Sinned, or Whether There Should Have Been Any Contention There Between Chastity and Lust.↗explains

City of God · Augustine of Hippo

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Concerning Virgins — Book I. — part 5↗applies

Concerning Virgins · Ambrose of Milan

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Fragments↗challenges

Fragments · Tatian

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Hebrews 13:4↗explains

Hebrews · Paul the Apostle

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Homilies on First Corinthians — Homily XII — part 6↗applies

Homilies on First Corinthians · John Chrysostom

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Homilies on First Corinthians — Homily XV — part 1↗applies

Homilies on First Corinthians · John Chrysostom

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Homilies on First Corinthians — Homily XVIII — part 1↗applies

Homilies on First Corinthians · John Chrysostom

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Homilies on First Corinthians — Homily XXVI — part 5↗applies

Homilies on First Corinthians · John Chrysostom

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Homilies on First Corinthians — Homily XXXVII — part 3↗applies

Homilies on First Corinthians · John Chrysostom

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Homilies on First Corinthians — Homily XXXVII — part 4↗applies

Homilies on First Corinthians · John Chrysostom

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Matthew 5:28↗applies

Matthew · Matthew the Apostle

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